Book Review of Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Goodreads Summary: Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....
But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....

Goodreads Rating: 3.95 stars with over 409,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Adult Fiction, Vampires, Paranormal, Supernatural, Shapeshifters, Mystery, Romance, Horror

Get the Book:  Amazon, Book Depository
Book challenge: Modern Mrs Darcy's Book challenge, A Book you've already read at least once. 1/12

Review:

Edited 12/1/2016

I've wanted to reread the Southern Vampire Series/ Sookie Stackhouse again for a while now. No, I will not call it Trueblood. You can't make me. I have a ton of books that I've yet to read, but this was all that was on my mind.

It amazes me how much I've forgotten about Dead Until Dark. I had it in my mind that it was a slower paced read when I read it the firs time. There was so much that happened this first book, that I had completely forgotten or thought it happened later in the series. I don't even know where to start without giving spoilers.

I don't remember Sookie being as feisty as she is in the book. I don't know why, but I had it in my head that she was somewhat demure. But I'm obviously wrong as she does tend to go head first into the action. I also forgot how she could be vain, and it drove me nuts this time around.

Her relationship with Bill bothers me. It bothered me the first time reading as well. It seems unnatural to me, and not because he's a vampire. Knowing what I know about the other books in the series, I'm going to chock it up to that mostly. I was always rooting for Sam. I still prefer him to Bill.

I forgot about how much happened in the first book. Gran, Jason's legal trouble, The stuff with the uncle. There's a lot in this first book, which is amazing since it's under 300 pages. Normally this is where I'd say something along the lines of seeing what happens in the next book, but I know what happens. Or at least, I think I do? I'll probably go through and reread the whole series now that I've got my bearings straight on the first book again.

For someone who hasn't read it, I recommend it. It's by no means a serious book for the ages, so if that's what you're looking for It's probably not for you. Charlaine Harris is a great mystery writer and does an excellent job of keeping the mystery alive in this book. It's entertaining and an easy read. There is a lot of adventure and interesting characters. It will keep you guessing.

 If you have read this series and haven't checked out Charlaine's other books, I highly recommend checking out her other mystery series following Aurora Teagarden and the other following Lilly Bard. They are not supernatural books, but they are great mystery novels.